Case Study for Agency
03-1015017-237

Bank of America

Background: Merger Mania and Lack of Focus

In 1998, the merger of BancAmerica and NationsBank created Bank of
America, the first coast to coast banking empire. Despite it's size and
importance, however, its consumers, associates and Wall Street were
confused as to what this brand would stand for.

Our mission was to craft a meaningful brand campaign that could
reenergize their huge workforce (143,000), restore confidence within
the financial community and be credible enough to work across their
seven lines of business. Most importantly, it had to be extremely
relevant to their vast consumer base.

The Challenge: Devise an Umbrella Brand That Stands for Leadership

Consumers were disappointed in the banking industry and disenfranchised
by the rapid turnover during the flurry of acquisitions in the 80's and
90's. They were certain that no bank had any interest in their well
being, especially not a huge corporate giant like Bank of America.

The Strategy: The Bank of Ingenuity

Exploratory research revealed that both NationsBank and BankAmerica had
strong legacies of true, old-fashioned American values. Pioneered by
gusty, street-smart, entrepreneurs, they were men who built their banks
from the ground up, based on the principled belief that if you support
people's great ideas you will grow.

A.P. Gianninni revolutionized modern banking from his headquarters in
California through such diverse projects as the development of the
first credit card and the early financing of Walt Disney's film
efforts. Similarly Hugh McColl was equal to his stature at during the
later half of the century on the East Coast as the leader of the bank
which was forged from now legendary acquisitions.

Our strategy leveraged the historical commonalties between the two
banks and gave all divisions a common goal to strive for -- The Bank of
Ingenuity.

The Solution: Enabling Dreams

Our launch campaign seeded the idea of ingenuity while the bank
developed the product and service innovations that could pay off this
ambitious positioning. Launched during the 2000 Olympics, the first
phase of the work for Bank of America saluted bold and idealistic
aspirations and highlighted Bank of America's innovative programs for
supporting them.

One such program stemmed from a problem lenders with the bank
discovered concerning the attrition of teachers from one community who
were leaving their jobs because they couldn't afford homes. The bank's
solution was the Teacher's Flex Loan, which enables teachers to secure
a no-interest mortgage if they purchase a home in their community.
Following our campaign loan applications doubled from 15 million to
32 million in just over a month.

New work is scheduled to be released in the coming weeks with similar
real stories of the bank's ingenuity.

Results: A Strategy that Leads Product Innovation

In a category where there is very little differentiation among
competitors, the strategy adopted by Bank of America is an ambitious
one. We raised "interest and opinion" of Bank of America by 37% and 64%
respectively. And our advertising strategy is pushing the bank toward
new product launches that it must employ to maintain it's status as the
largest US bank and continue to grow and innovate. After all, one out
of three U.S. households bank with Bank of America.